Brown urged to gear-up for autumn fightback.GORDON BROWN yesterday urged Labour to spend the summer months gearing up for an autumn fightback as backbench back·bench n. 1. Chiefly British The rear benches in the House of Commons where junior members of Parliament sit behind government officeholders and their counterparts in the opposition party. 2. MPs warned that his leadership was once again under scrutiny. The Prime Minister was told that he hs ad until the September party conference season to demonstrate he was up to the job after Labour's humiliating hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. byelection defeat in Norwich North Norwich North may refer to:
But, as MPs headed off for their summer break, Mr Brown told the Sunday Mirror: "We've got to show that we are a disciplined party getting on with the work of gover nment." Chancellor Alistair Darling insisted Labour could and would win the next general election, despite the result in Norwich North and the Tories' double-digit lead in the polls. But he said the party needed to "come out fighting" in the autumn, when it faces another byelection test in Glasgow North East. "We've got to re-engage and enthuse en·thuse v. en·thused, en·thus·ing, en·thus·es Usage Problem v.tr. To cause to become enthusiastic. v.intr. our supporters," he told THE BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "I believe that we can win and we will win, but we really do need to come out fighting." His comments contrasted with those of Labour backbencher Eric Joyce, who claimed yesterday that even some Cabinet ministers had given up the fight. "There are some doomsayers who have given up the ghost," he told the Sunday Herald. Labour is reeling after their 5,000-plus majority in Norwich North was last week overturned by the Tories, who won by 7,348 votes. CAPTION(S): Gordon Brown |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion